A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a double bearing reel, and more particularly to a double bearing reel provided with a drag mechanism for braking a spool where the drag mechanism is controlled by movement of a lever.
B. Description of the Related Art
A fishing reels having drag mechanisms are known. A lever drag type double bearing reel for braking a spool by movement of a spool shaft in an axial direction by means of a lever is known as a double bearing reel. This double bearing reel is provided with a reel body having a pair of side plates, a spool shaft supported on the reel body movably in the axial direction, a spool rotatably supported to the spool shaft, a drag mechanism for braking the spool and a torque transmission mechanism for rotating the spool by the rotation of a handle.
The spool is movable in the axial direction together with the spool shaft. The drag mechanism is provided with a brake disc provided on an outer surface at one end of a flange portion of the spool, a frictional disc which may be pressed into contact with the brake disc, and a spool shaft moving mechanism for moving the spool shaft in the axial direction. The frictional disc is rotatably supported to the spool shaft, and a torque from the handle is transmitted to the frictional disc through the torque transmission mechanism. The spool shaft moving mechanism has a drag lever pivotably supported on the reel body, a cap member fixed to one end of the spool shaft, and a cam member disposed between the drag lever and the cap member and mounted so as to be unrotatable on the reel body. A slant cam is formed on the cam member. When the drag lever is swung, the drag lever rides over the slant cam so that the cam member pushes the cap member to thereby move the spool shaft in one axial direction. The movement of the spool shaft in the other axial direction is performed by a biasing force of, for example, a coil spring disposed between the frictional disc and the brake disc.
In such a double bearing reel, the drive force produced by rotation of the handle is transmitted to the frictional disc of the drag mechanism through the torque transmission mechanism and transmitted to the spool by the press contact between the frictional disc and the brake disc.
In the thus constructed drag mechanism, the adjustment of the drag force (brake force) is performed by pivotal movement of the drag lever mounted at one end of the spool shaft in one direction. When the drag lever is pivotally moved in one direction, the spool shaft is moved in one axial direction by the cam member, and the spool approaches the drag mechanism so that the brake disc is brought into pressing contact with the frictional disc. In such a double bearing reel, the brake force of the drag mechanism is adjusted by the operation of the drag lever and at the same time, the spool is kept in a free rotation condition by separating the brake disc and the frictional disc from each other.